Stage
Pick of the Day 7/25: We the People
In this time of political chaos and division, it makes sense to go back to the beginning to determine exactly what the Great Experiment was all about. But We the People can’t be put in a box; not only because it’s outside on the farm in Ashfield Double...
Pick of the Day 7/22: The Southern Vermont Dance Festival
The Southern Vermont Dance Festival 2018 is all day today! From 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Take your pick of over “113 dance classes, two Galas at the Latchis, an outdoor Promenade Performance and picnic, two Informal Showings, and lots of free community...
Pick of the Day 7/21: Lempicka at the Williamstown Theatre
Williamstown is definitely one of the places to be this summer if you love the stage! And one of my favorite artists is the inspiration for Lempicka, a world premiere musical. Tamara de Lempicka was a war time painter who created beautiful (and frosty) portraits of...
Pick of the Day 7/18: Shakespeare Under the Stars: Othello
Shakespeare’s Othello is a remarkable play that hinges upon (gulp) racist stereotypes. Othello is, after all black, and his wife Desdemona is white. Her father is none too happy and it doesn’t help that Othello’s standard bearer, Iago, is a master...
Pick of the Day 7/17: Through the Looking Glass…and What Alice Found There at The Majestic
Probably the best thing about summer is there are no school buses to ruin my commute to work. With that said, that means all the little minions are pulling at somebody’s pants legs lamenting the lack of activity on a steamy July day. I’m here to solve...
Local Calendar: Monday 7/16 – Wednesday 7/18
MONDAY 7/16 MUSIC AMHERST JAZZ ORCHESTRA: July 16, 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. With vocalist Ethel Lee. Great food. Union Station Grand Ballroom, 125A Pleasant St., Northampton. 413-253- 1607. info@amherstjazzorchestra.com. Bang on a Can Summer Festival 2018: July 16,...
Pick of the Day 7/13: Next Wave Stage at Green River Fest
My buddy Chris Goudreau made this his Staff Pick, so take heed: “Signature Sounds Recordings will continue its Next Wave Stage this year at the 2018 Green River Festival, highlighting up and coming teenage bands across the Pioneer Valley and northern Vermont....
Pick of the Day 7/12: Artney Jackson at Williamstown Theater Festival
Obie Award winning actor Ray Anthony Thomas brings life to the world premiere of Artney Jackson at the Williamstown Theater Festival through July 22. Artney Jackson is about an African American man who is a respected employee at the local cable company. After 25...
Local Calendar: Thursday 7/12 – Sunday 7/15
THURSDAY 7/12 MUSIC Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival 2018: MASS MoCa, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams. David Krakauer’s Acoustic Klezmer Quartet: 8 p.m. Yiddish Book Center Members: $45, General Admission: $50. Delight in a performance emphasizing the beauty of...
Pick of the Day 7/11: The Closet at Williamstown Theater Festival
Matthew Broderick was, of course, Ferris Bueller, but he’s done a lot more than that. He’s a Tony winner and he’s got nominations for Golden Globes and Emmys. He has some cred. So seeing him in The world premiere of The Closet is a HUGE...
Stagestruck: Exciting new ideas from well-worn material
A new thriller, a boundary-breaking dance form, a classic tragedy, and a dramatic sequel, all on area stages this month, illustrate the creative urge to mold existing materials into new forms. In the Valley, Silverthorne Theater Company presents White, Black and Blue,...
Local Calendar: Monday 7/9 – Thursday 7/12
MONDAY 7/9 MUSIC Monday Night Music – Robert Speth and Jay Letourneau: 7 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Tilton Library, 75 N Main St., South Deerfield. STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. 1000 Main...
Stagestruck: Compromises and Contradictions in Chester
A poster hanging in the lobby at Chester Theater Company points out common roots and themes connecting Islam, Judaism and Christianity – for example, the Archangel Gabriel figures in all three religions’ core legends. It serves as prelude to the current production,...
Stagestruck: Masters of Melody, Onstage at BTG
What happens when your music goes out of style? – when the teenagers are swooning over Elvis Presley instead of Frank Sinatra? If you’re Irving Berlin, and it’s Christmas Eve 1956, and the song at the top of the Hit Parade isn’t “White Christmas” but “Hound Dog,” you...
Pick of the Day 7/8: Asleep at the Wheel
Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel is swinging through Northampton tonight! The Iron Horse is playing host to the Austin based band that’s been in existence in some form or another since 1970. In that time, they’ve won 9 Grammys. Check them out and...
Pick of the Day 7/7: Valley Show Girl
You know her, you love her, and you want to support her! Jen Levesque, aka the Valley Show Girl aka the Valley Advocate graphics guru, hosts The Valley Show Girl premiere tonight at 13th Floor Music Lounge. Everybody who’s anybody will be there; she’s...
Local Calendar: Thursday 7/5- Sunday 7/8
THURSDAY 7/5 MUSIC Drop-in Traditional Music Sessions: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. $5. Friendly traditional music sessions. Moderate swingy pace. Adults and teens of all skill levels welcome – and not just fiddles. Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz St., Northampton....
Stagestruck: Weekend Update
For your consideration – four shows playing in the region this weekend, two that hark back to the ’60s/’70s and forward to tomorrow, plus a Shakespearean comedy and a jungle adventure. The Ko Festival of Performance opens its five-weekend season with The...
Wedding Belles – Gay marriage is a hot topic in this bake shop
These days, fiction can hardly keep up with real life. Take The Cake, playing at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield through July 15. It opened last month, just days after the Supreme Court upheld a Colorado baker’s refusal, on religious grounds, to make a wedding...
Stagestruck: WTF is going on
Two world premieres kick off the season at Williamstown Theatre Festival, one a raucous comedy, the other a brief, intimate tragedy. The Closet holds forth on WTF’s Main Stage through July 14th, while The Sound Inside plays through the 8th on the smaller Nikos...
Local Calendar: Monday 7/2 – Thursday 7/5
MONDAY 7/2 STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. The Sound Inside: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. TUESDAY 7/3 STAGE/FILM/DANCE The Closet: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown. Make It Funny Open Mic Comedy: 8...
Stagestruck: Hip-Hop Hybrid — Ephrat Asherie Dance at Jacob’s Pillow
The dance companies that opened this year’s season at Jacob’s Pillow epitomize the festival’s enduring mission. This week the mainstage hosts Pilobolus, one of the pillars of modern dance and still innovating after 45 years. And in the Pillow’s intimate Doris Duke...
Pick of the Day 6/28: The Road to Mecca
Silverthorne Theater opens its production The Road to Mecca this evening. Helen is a South African widow and has been working on a sculpture garden, which is a dream trip to “Mecca.” Her pastor is urging her to move into a senior retirement home, but a...
Pick of the Day 6/27: The Naked + Famous
The New Zealand indie electronic band Naked and Famous just played a sold out show in DC and they’re bringing their Stripped tour to town tonight at the Iron Horse. The band has been around since 2007 and has produced three albums. Tonight they’ll strip...
Stagestruck: At a Crossroads on “The Road to Mecca”
Silverthorne Theater Company has come a long way since its founding five summers ago. Struggling at first with difficult venues and miniscule audiences, the company, under the leadership of Lucinda Kidder, is now celebrating the half-decade mark with a permanent home...
Local Calendar: Monday 6/25 – Thursday 6/28
MONDAY 6/25 MUSIC A Very Intimate Acoustic Evening with Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: June 25, 8 p.m. $71 – $141. Experience special arrangements from two rock and roll icons during A Very Intimate Acoustic Evening with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. Mahaiwe...
Pick of the Day 6/25: Summer Concert in Turner’s Falls
Let’s dance! That’s what the Montague Community Band wants you to do tonight. A concert on the lawn at Peskeomuscut Park in Turner’s Falls will give you a dose of summer in New England. This week’s theme is, indeed, “Let’s...
Stagestruck: A lawyer walks into a rabbi’s office…
Bar Mitzvah Boy is a comedy that looks seriously at faith, community, and loss. Its premise contains the seeds of sitcom: A middle-aged Jewish lawyer who hasn’t set foot in a synagogue since he was a boy is suddenly in a rush to have his way-overdue becoming-a-man...
Local Calendar: Thursday 6/21- Sunday 6/24
THURSDAY 6/21 MUSIC British Dance Invasion: 7 p.m. Academy of Music Theatre, 274 Main St., Northampton. Colorway Album Release with Easy Weasel, Featuring Chris Collingwood: 7:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. $10 advance, $12 at the door. Colorway has been keeping the spirit...
Pick of the Day 6/21: Vilray at the Parlor Room
There’s a lot going on tonight: Junior Reid at Hawks and Reed and Liz Longley at the Iron Horse. But I thought I’d let Vilray (pronounce Vil-ree) give his own shout out for today’s pick. He posted this back on 6/11. You can see him up close and...
Stagestruck: “Tight Pants” and strong bonds
A six-week workshop for first-time playwrights taught by the Majestic Theater’s Danny Eaton has borne unexpected fruit. It has not only brought forth a full-length play, but has inspired Eaton to establish an annual “new works” week at the theater. Betel Arnold’s...
Pick of the Day 6/20: Junior Brown at the Iron Horse
Okay, honestly, I can’t stand new country music; it’s a horrible thing. I absolutely despise it. So when somebody like Junior Brown blows into town, it’s an opportunity to hear country music done right. Junior Brown’s a country guitarist...
Pick of the Day 6/19: Mutlu at the Iron Horse
After last night’s wild and woolly weather, you need a de-stressor. Check out the smoothness of Mutlu at the Iron Horse tonight. He’s a real deal, a soulful singer-songwriter from Philly and a proud first-generation American of Turkish descent. He’s...
Stagestruck: A Crisis of Faith, with Laughs
Church & State is the funniest play about a serious issue I have ever seen. The issue is gun violence, specifically mass shootings, and the humor is threaded into the storyline so organically that, far from cheapening the theme, it lends to it a richer, more...
Stagestruck: Barrington’s world premiere musical — not ready for prime time
The “royal family” of Broadway in the early 20th century was the Barrymores – Ethel, “first lady of the American theater,” John the swashbuckling Shakespearean, and Lionel, best remembered now as mean old Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. The hit Broadway comedy of...
Pick of the Day 6/15: Hot Club of Cowtown at the Iron Horse
The Hot Club of Cowtown is at the Iron Horse, swinging and twanging and doing their thing tonight. They’re celebrating their 20th anniversary by releasing their first-ever CD format of their very first recording, Western Clambake. Western Clambake has only been...
Pick of the Day 6/14: Albert Lee at the Iron Horse
English guitarist Albert Lee is at the Iron Horse tonight. Lee is known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. A Grammy winner, Eric Clapton says Lee is “the ultimate virtuoso. His skill is extraordinary, his ear is extraordinary and he’s gifted on just...
Local Calendar: Thursday 6/14- Sunday 6/17
THURSDAY 6/14 MUSIC Albert Lee: 7 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. Drop-in Traditional Music Sessions: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. $5 at the door. Friendly traditional music sessions. Moderate swingy pace. Adults and teens of all skill levels...
Stagestruck: At Shakespeare & Company, the Show Must, and Did, Go On
A theater story: For three years in the mid-’70s, Anthony Perkins starred in the long-running Broadway production of Equus, playing the psychiatrist Dr. Dysart (pause for Psycho jokes). Just before one matinee came an announcement: “Anthony Perkins will not be...
Staff Picks: Pub Sing, Mutlu, and Deus Ex Machina
Pub sing at McNeill’s // Saturday, June 16 There isn’t enough singing in our pubs around here. But McNeill’s in Brattleboro is working to fix that. Led by Tony Barrand and Amanda Witman, the bar is open for sea shanties, work songs, pub songs, and all the rest. Open...
Stagestruck: The Scotsman and “The Curious Incident”
If you’re a regular at the NT Live series of high-def broadcasts from the London stage, you’d be forgiven for thinking Rory Kinnear is under exclusive contract to the National Theatre. (He’s not, as you’ll know if you’re also a fan of the recent James Bond films, in...
Local Calendar: Monday 6/11 – Thursday 6/14
MONDAY 6/11 MUSIC Music Mondays Cafe ~ An Evening with Peter Eldridge: 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. $15 adults / $10 students cash at the door. .June Music Mondays Cafe features Peter Eldridge and an evening of piano and vocal pop, jazz, standards and original works. Doors...
Local Calendar Thursday 6/7 – Sunday 6/11
THURSDAY 6/7 MUSIC Albert Castiglia: 7 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. Drop-in Traditional Music Sessions: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Friendly traditional music sessions. Moderate swingy pace. Adults and teens of all skill levels welcome – and...
Stagestruck: Lessons in Survival
Two plays now running in Hartford are framed by resistance movements against political and economic oppression, and both carry weighty metaphors. At TheaterWorks through June 23, a lesson in global economics is tucked into a torn-from-the-headlines thriller, and at...
Pick of the Day 6/4: Gaelic Storm
Celtic band Gaelic Storm is at the Iron Horse tonight. They perform traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres. Go Climb A Tree, their most recent album, was released last year. 7 p.m. at the Iron Horse...
Stagestruck: Summer Theater Preview — The Valley
I’m always excited as the summer-theater season approaches, even though it means I’ll be spending even more of my entertainment hours indoors than during the dark winter. In a brief three months, we theatergoers are treated to a greater variety of fare — not to...
Pick of the Day 6/2: Sweetback Sisters
Honky Tonk goodness with the Sweetback Sisters hits the Berkshires tonight. Their unique brand of classic country and rockabilly rave-ups is a hootin’ good time. This is real deal musicianship at its best. Catch the show at 7:30 p.m. Hancock Shaker Village,...
Local Calendar: Friday 6/1- Sunday 6/3
FRIDAY 6/1 MUSIC Bob Stabach 4tet: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. The Lounge, 4 High St., Brattleboro. Live Music on The Deck Friday & Saturday: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The Deck at Union Station has live music all summer long! Friday and Saturday from 6-9pm. Check...
Stagestruck: Deadly Denial — Typhoid Mary at Barrington Stage
Barrington Stage Company’s summer season launched on Sunday in the troupe’s St. Germain Stage, with a play by its eponym, Mark St. Germain. In her curtain speech, artistic director Julianne Boyd proudly announced that Typhoid Mary is the ninth play of his that...
Pam Victor is making the Valley happier in a dirty vanilla box
“A dirty vanilla box” is how Pam Victor lovingly describes the new location of Happier Valley Comedy. The 1,300 square foot room at the end of a strip of shops on Route 9, is the culmination of years of comedic toil. “It’s the first ever improv theater and training...
Pick of the Day 5/21: Guys and Dolls at the Majestic
Our illustrious stage connoisseur Chris Rohmann, has recommended a pick of the day, Guys and Dolls at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield. I like all the help I can get, so take it away, Chris: “Guys and Dolls, the “musical fable of Broadway,” is playing...
Stagestruck: One Man, in Heels — “I Am My Own Wife” in the Valley
“I think she may be the most singular, eccentric individual the Cold War ever birthed.” So says one of the three dozen characters in I Am My Own Wife. He’s talking about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, née Lothar Berfelde, Berlin’s most famous transvestite. In Doug Wright’s...
Pick of the Day 5/10: The Glass Menagerie
If you want a little Tennessee Williams with a twist, check out Shoot The Moon Theater Company’s production of The Glass Menagerie, Williams’ signature 1944 stage play. Let’s go over the plot before we get to the good stuff. Domineering Amanda Wingfield, has two adult...
Pick of the Day 5/4: The Tattooed Man Tells All
The weekend has begun and you can take your pick of great events happening this weekend. My recommendation? The Tattooed Man Tells All. This solo stage piece was written by Peter Wortsman. Wortsman interviewed Holocaust survivors in the 1970s and distilled them into...
Pick of the Day 5/1: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Tennessee Williams knew how to create drama. And his Pulitzer Prize winning 1955 masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the perfect example. Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy and the gang are gathered for Big Daddy’s birthday. Simply put, these people are the worst. Greedy,...
Pick of the Day 4/21: The Ballad of Philip Andre…
If you’ve followed the long strange trip that is Mickey Rourke’s life, The Ballad of Philip Andre will ring a bell. The Legible Bod(ies)’s The Ballad of Philip Andre, is loosely based on the life and career of Mickey Rourke. The troupe will explore...
Pick of the Day 4/19: Tart2f at Hawks and Reed
Silverthorne Theater Company’s world-premiere production of TarT2f! An Irreverent Musical Comedy, by Jeff Olmsted is directed by the Advocate’s very own Stage Struck columnist, Chris Rohmann. Tart2f is described as a “light-hearted lampoon of...
Stagestruck: In the Valley and New York, history becomes personal
The tattoo From the title, you might think The Tattooed Man Tells All is a memoir of life on the carnival circuit. It’s anything but. This man’s tat is a five-digit number that was etched into his forearm in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Peter Wortsman’s one-man...
Pick of the Day 4/17: Hawktail at the Parlor Room
Hawktail, an exciting acoustic group, describes themselves this way: “Haas Kowert Tice brought on mandolinist Dominick Leslie to form Hawktail. Music fans will recognize them from their various other outfits (Punch Brothers, David Rawlings, Crooked Still, A...E-Edition
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